A leading academic has launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer’s recent trip to China, branding the visit a “farce” and a “humiliation for Britain” as he accused the Prime Minister of being snubbed by Beijing while handing over major concessions.
Professor Anthony Glees said footage from the trip showed the British Prime Minister being treated “like a humdrum tourist”, claiming the optics alone revealed the imbalance in the relationship between the UK and China.
AstraZeneca announced a $15 billion investment in Chinese research and manufacturing facilities through 2030 during the Prime Minister’s visit.
British firms did secure £2.2billion in export contracts during the visit, alongside £2.3 billion in market-access agreements spanning five years.
The Prime Minister’s visit marked the first trip to China by a British leader since 2018, spanning four days and concluding in Shanghai with meetings with business executives.
Speaking to GB News, Professor Glees said: “I think we have to call this China visit by its name, which is that it was actually a farce, a humiliation for our country.
“If you look at all the film that’s come out of that visit, we see our Prime Minister treated like a humdrum tourist. They even let him get wet.
“I mean, some of the photographs showed security with a soaking wet suit. That’s not how you look after a foreign Government leader with whom you want to do serious business.
A leading academic has launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer’s recent trip to China
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GB NEWS
“So he was snubbed, in a sense. He was ridiculed. And Tom Tugendhat tweeted that he can read Chinese.
“Apparently, the Chinese have been calling Britain “the beggar before the gate”. And that is the truth.
“If you look at what the Chinese got out of this visit, they got their super embassy. They got visa-free access to China, which suits the Chinese and doesn’t really suit us. They got AstraZeneca.
“And the fundamental fact of our economic relationship with China is completely unaltered. In 2021, which is the last year for which full figures exist, China imported £64 billion worth of stuff into the UK.
“We exported only £18billion worth of goods to China. You compare that with what we export to the European Union, for example £278billion.
Sir Keir hailed the talks with President Xi as ‘very warm’ | PA
“So China is small stir-fry in any case. And what Sir Keir has done, I’m afraid, has been to gaslight us. It’s childish. And I fear we would be gormless if we didn’t see what the Chinese are after.
“That super embassy, though that is the symbol of China’s wish to dominate us here in the United Kingdom, and also to have that super embassy serve as China’s public face in the whole of Europe.
“So we are really up a junction and down the creek without any paddles.”
Sir Keir held discussions with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on 29 January, with their conversation lasting approximately 40 minutes before the two leaders shared lunch.
“China is a vital player on the global stage, and it is vital that we build a more sophisticated relationship,” the Prime Minister told Xi at the outset of their talks.
The Chinese president acknowledged that relations between the two countries had experienced difficulties that benefited neither side, expressing readiness to establish a long-term partnership.
Commercial agreements reached during the trip included a 50 per cent reduction in tariffs on British whisky and a framework for visa-free travel for UK citizens.